A Little Push
by risenfromash
Summary: A long hidden secret is discovered prompting Maya and Nick to reevaluate their relationship. MILD SPOILERS for all PW games and AJ.


One morning several weeks after Maya came to stay with us, Trucy and I awoke to the sounds of Maya screaming in the office. My first thought was that she was going to get shot or was being kidnapped. I understand that stuff like that happened to her quite a bit when she was working as Phoenix's assistant and I've been pretty jumpy ever since that man died in front of me at the Gavinner's concert. I bolted out of bed, nearly colliding with Trucy in my hurry to get into the other room to see what was going on.

To my surprise I saw no obvious intruders, just Phoenix and Maya. They were both in their pajamas standing with their backs to us.

"Nick, I love you. I thought we were going to be together. Isn't that what you said? So what is the problem? I love you, dammit!"

I could see Maya pummeling Phoenix in the chest, as if the only way she thought he would understand her words was by physically pounding them into him with her fists. Phoenix seemed stiff, not at all the usual happy-go-lucky way he was around Maya.

Phoenix murmured something that sounded like, "Maya… what's the matter? Tell me what's the matter."

"Nick, I found this!" She thrust at him a piece of paper and even though I couldn't read it from across the room my stomach lurched, instinct alone told me what it was. There was only one thing I could imagine to make them like this.

The other day I had been flipping through one of Phoenix's old law books and an envelope had fallen out. It was on stationary from the courthouse, so I'd taken a peek inside to see where it should have been filed. Trucy and I were constantly finding things in the wrong places. It was amazing Mr. Wright hadn't lost his license sooner.

What I saw inside the envelope took me by surprise. Instead of some official document regarding a trial it was a marriage license with the names Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey printed on it. It wasn't signed and there were no witness signatures. It was as if one day at the courthouse Phoenix had asked for the document to be drawn up and then never proceeded to do anything with it. I had stuffed the paper back in the book in a hurry so Trucy wouldn't see it, but I'd left the book on my desk and I guess Maya must have picked it up at some point.

" I thought we had agreed that we would be together when Pearl could take over my duties in Kurain, but that time is almost here and NOTHING is happening, Nick. You're ignoring it! So, I convinced myself that I had misunderstood our promise- that you didn't really care about me that way…and then I find this dated 8 years ago!

Maya who was usually a pillar of strength and optimism in our lives seemed to be losing it. I'd never seen her like this and I got the feeling Phoenix and Trucy never had either.

"I don't know what's going on. So, Nick, tell me what did I do wrong? Are you punishing me for not being there that day? Do you think I care you're not a lawyer anymore? Nick, I'd marry you if you were a garbage man! All I've ever wanted is to be with you," She shouted

"Nick, be honest with me." I heard her plead. "Have I been a fool to wait all this time for you? To stand by while you've let your life go to SHIT thinking that eventually we'd make it better, together?" She gave Phoenix a chance to say something. But he was silent.

"Nick, I'm not as fragile or stupid as you seem to think I am. I'm not a little kid anymore! And neither are you so GROW UP!!"

Phoenix looked devastated and just murmured Maya's name. "I'm sorry," he said as he headed out the door of the office.

Standing beside me, Trucy had tears pouring out of her eyes, the fairy tale she had imagined for her Daddy and Maya was falling apart. Wiping the tears out of her eyes she ran to comfort Maya growling to me as she went, "Go talk to Daddy. Make sure he's OK. I'll think I'll kill him if I try to do it."

As I left the office to follow Phoenix, I saw Maya lying on the floor sobbing, the marriage license crumpled in her hand. Normally Maya was so full of boundless energy that seeing her there prostrate from pain she reminded me of a puppy I had once seen hit by a truck. I couldn't see her face and for this I was thankful. Of all the people I knew who'd lost loved ones it didn't seem like their pain even came close to what Maya must have been feeling.

Outside I dashed down the sidewalk to try to catch up to Phoenix. I finally caught up with him at the park. He was sitting on a bench leaning forward with his head in his hands. I went and sat next to him, but I didn't know what to say.

I knew this was going to be weird. Phoenix is a very enigmatic guy. He keeps a lot of stuff to himself. It was a constant source of frustration for me and I had a funny feeling Maya felt the same way, but while I was sure Phoenix often left me in the dark intentionally I felt like he would never knowingly do anything to hurt Maya. He loved her too much, I was sure of that. The first time I had seem Phoenix with her he had seemed like a different person, a happy person.

Surely he was just confused. Maybe because their romance was a little unconventional he didn't recognize it for what it was, but Maya didn't seem to expect a "normal" relationship with him. She seemed to understand that Phoenix didn't have easily definable relationships with anyone. Take me for example; was I his employee, roommate, friend, partner, or apprentice? None of those words seemed to describe our relationship, in yet, it seemed to be my job to be the one to comfort him.

I wasn't sure what Trucy wanted me to do. Half of me wanted to be the supportive friend who let him figure stuff out on his own and the other half of me wanted to yell at him for being too big a dumb-ass to realize how deeply he was in love with Maya.

"What do you want?" he asked grouchily.

"Um… I thought you might need to talk…" I said grimacing. Trucy was going to owe me big-time for this.

Phoenix raised his head slightly as if he were about to tell me to get lost.

"Trucy sent me." That made him smile. I think he was a little relieved to know this wasn't my idea. He was probably like me and would have preferred to pretend nothing had happened.

"I should have known Trucy'd send you. Let me guess she's mad at me."

"Yeah." I didn't know what else to say. We sat in silence for a few minutes and then Phoenix just started sobbing. His whole body was quaking. I wrapped my arm around him and he rested his head against my chest and balled. I felt really sorry for him, but the thought crossed my mind that I hoped nobody saw us like this. I now understood why most men went to bars to have these kind of conversations- in a bar it's dark and nobody can see you.

He raised his head and blew his nose on his sleeve. "Damn! Why does she have to be so difficult?"

"Um, sir, do you mind me asking why you never did ask her to marry you? I mean you guys seem really happy together."

"I've just been waiting for the right time and then I thought I waited too long and I have nothing to show for my life and-"

"Maya doesn't care about that and you know it, otherwise, she wouldn't still be here. She loves you and she's really upset."

Phoenix uttered some kind of guttural groan that grew into a whine, "Now she probably hates me. God, I'm a jerk. Such a loser. I just don't want things to change and I'm scared of losing her and, oh, SHIT- what am I gonna do?"

He looked at me and it was all I could do to not look away. He was a wreck. His eyes were all bloodshot and his face was all blotchy.

"I dunno. I've never had a girlfriend. I guess you try to talk to her. I'm sure she'll forgive you. Maya's one of he sweetest people I've ever met."

Phoenix seemed to ponder this. "You know, I'm actually very lucky. It may not seem like it to you. But Trucy and Maya love me so much- the rest of it doesn't matter that much. And I'm such an idiot."

"Yeah, you are, but I guess I am too. I still haven't gone over to have dinner at Vera's. I actually stood her up last Friday."

"Ouch!" Phoenix laughed. "We're quite the pair- always running from the ones we want the most."

"Yeah, I guess. You gonna be OK, man?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Can you do me a favor, though? If Maya tries to go back to Kurain before I get back can you try to get her to stay? You're right we need to talk."

"Sure- I'll try."

When I got back to the office I found Trucy, Maya, and Vera sitting on the couch eating ice cream and watching a movie. Maya's face was tear stained and she was still in her pajamas. When they noticed me all three glared at me and I realized that I was obviously not welcome to join them. This was clearly an example of female bonding and so I left them and their ice cream and retreated into the privacy of my bedroom.

At dinnertime, I popped my head into the hallway to see if the girls would let me make dinner or if I was going to have to eat out, but to my surprise the female bonding seemed to have progressed to the next phase and all the girls were now crammed in our tiny bathroom doing one another's hair.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Were asserting our independence and going out!" announced Trucy, her noise in the air. Obviously, since I was guy I was in trouble, too, or perhaps Vera had told them how I had stood her up last week.

Trucy marched over to me. "We're going to take Maya out to have some fun." Trucy was dressed in a purple sequin dress that barely reached her knee and her face was decorated with lavish make-up.

"Are you sure your dad's going to be OK with you going out like that?" Forget about her dad I wasn't sure I was OK with her going out like that. The dress was clearly too short and I knew Mr. Wright's feelings about her wearing make-up.

"I don't care what Daddy thinks."

Dressed in jeans accented with sparkles and a low-cut pink blouse, Vera squeezed past Trucy to exit the bathroom and said, "You won't tell will you?" I wasn't sure if Vera meant about Trucy's clothing indiscretions or the fact that Vera wasn't legally supposed to leave our building other than for emergencies.

I shrugged. "Looks like an emergency to me. Have a good time. Don't drink any umbrella drinks."

As I watched the three of them leave I realized that love was pretty complex, because I was pretty sure I loved all of them, but my feelings weren't the same for each of them.

I knew Trucy could take care of herself, but I wasn't sure if Maya was going to be the most responsible chaperone in her distracted state so I decided I would wait up for them just to make sure they got home alright. I tried to while away the hours by watching television but the shows were all about criminals and the dark side of city life. It made me worry too much about what sleezeballs they might meet out clubbing, so I ended up turning off the TV. Now I knew how fathers feel on prom night. Surely, they weren't going to stay out all night. At a little after 2 am they came in whispering.

First I heard Maya, "Yeah, he was really nice about me stepping on his feet."

"I know! Too bad he was from out of town…" That was Vera.

"He was wearing way too much cologne," groaned Trucy.

"Well, he was REALLY good looking… "

"But he moved way too fast." Said Maya. "The best guys move slowly, like Nick, you have to be patient with them."

"And give um a push every once in a while," finished Trucy with a giggle.

I really didn't want to be hearing any of this. They were back in one piece and it sounded like Maya had it all under control so I thought I'd just sneak back to my room.

Then the light flicked on. They had caught me.

"What are you doing?" Vera asked.

"I was watching some TV and fell asleep so I'm just headed to bed."

"Did Nick put you up to this?" Maya was fiery again. "Nick, Nick, get out here! I have as much right to go have fun as-"

"Um, Maya. He's not home yet." It occurred to me that despite his statements to me in the park he may have decided to cheer himself up in a similar fashion as Maya and have a night on the town. All the anger in Maya's face melted away and was replaced by concern. I expected Maya to react strongly to the fact he wasn't home, but I hadn't expected this. "Oh, no! This is all my fault! I've got to find him." I looked at her skeptically. Would she know where to look? And what if she found him doing something that upset her even more, like being in the arms of another woman?

She looked at me as if I was simple-minded. "I know you're thinking he is just out blowing off some stem. But I know him. He isn't. He's very upset. We've never yelled at each other before."

"Well," I thought to myself. "I think the record would show that Phoenix had still not yelled at _her_." Though, stomping out of the office refusing to discuss his feelings probably wasn't much better.

"Polly, I know you have a gift for perceiving things. Any idea where he went?" I reviewed in my mind our conversation at the park for any hints of Phoenix's possible whereabouts. "No, he told me to try to make sure you didn't go back to Kurain. I guess he was planning to apologize."

Maya closed her eyes. "Trucy, has Nick ever done anything that really upset you?"

"Yeah, he wouldn't let me go to Magic Camp last summer."

"And what did he do to make it up to you?"

"Well, he said he was sorry, but he was Daddy and what he said had to be respected and then he bought me a bunch of magic stuff."

"Yes, Nick's adherence to traditional standards of behavior gets him stuck in a rut a lot. Anyone know any gift shops open at this time of night? He's probably buying me flowers or something else cliché."

The only place any of us could think of that would be open was a drug store three blocks away. She told the rest of us to go to bed and that she'd go there to see if she could find him. I found her confidence foolish. It didn't take anyone all day and night to buy a girl a teddy bear or some chocolates. Still, I hoped Phoenix wasn't doing anything that he would regret later.

So, Trucy and I headed into our rooms and I went to bed and dreamt about Vera in her sparkly jeans, dancing just for me.

The next morning I was the first one awake and as I started the coffee maker I peered into the living room. Maya was asleep on the couch, but there was no sign of Phoenix anywhere. "Damn him," I thought. I wasn't sure I could take another day of this garbage. The sound of me in the kitchen must have woken the others up, and soon we were all sitting on the couches in the office drinking coffee and trying to figure out what to talk about.

Finally, Maya spoke, "Polly, if Nick ever does anything silly like this again promise you'll call me." Ugh! She still appeared to be under the delusion that Phoenix couldn't take care of himself.

Just then we heard someone fumbling with the lock. Maya sprang up and ran to the door. Trucy whispered to me, "He better have a good explanation." I was sure he wouldn't. Mr. Wright only seemed to feel the need to explain things in the setting of a courtroom.

Phoenix stepped into the room and was almost knocked over by Maya's enthusiastic hug. She stepped back and said, "I was so worried when you didn't come home!" She surveyed him. He didn't look like he had bathed or slept and his shoes and the bottom of his pant legs were all muddy. From the pocket of his hoodie he pulled out a rather pathetic looking bouquet of wildflowers. They had probably been more attractive before Maya had accidentally crushed them.

"I'm sorry, Maya. I'm so sorry and sorry to worry you about not coming home last night I just wanted to get you flowers and they didn't have any purple so I took the bus out to that wildflower patch by Richardson Butte and"

"You missed the last bus back into town didn't you?"

Richardson's Butte was easily 45 minutes away by car. If he had missed the bus…

"You walked all the way back didn't you?"  
Phoenix nodded and limped over to the couch. "I should have called but I forgot to charge my cell phone." It went without saying that he hadn't had the money for a pay phone, let alone a taxi.

"Nick, I'm really sorry about yesterday. Let's just let everything go back to how it was before. It was wrong of me." I got up to get him a coffee, but stopped short when I heard him say, "No. Let's not." Oh, crap! What was he going to do now? Trucy was right, Phoenix did stink at this love business.

"Look, Maya, I know you feel guilty you weren't there the day I lost my attorney's badge but it's not your fault. Please don't feel bad about that. You've kept me going all this time… and I've just been a chicken-shit. I should have done this a long time ago." And he pulled off his hat and reached into the brim and started tugging on something in the liner. He pulled out a little black velvet pouch. And taking her left hand he began to shake something out of the pouch into her cupped hand.

"I had this made for you a long time ago," Phoenix said looking pained. "But I never seemed to find the right time to give it to you. I'm sorry." I couldn't believe it. Was he actually doing what I thought he was doing? Trucy and I watched entranced. Surely, he was just giving her a special edition Steel Samurai pendant or something.

A silver ring came tumbling out as he said, "Maya, will you marry me?" He said the words fast as he exhaled and then he closed his eyes and seemed to hold his breath.

"I love you, Nick!" Maya said with tears trickling out of her eyes.

"Um," Phoenix gently pulled her away from him so he could look in her eyes. "Will the witness please answer the question posed by the defense attorney?"

She laughed and curled up next to him.

"Really, Nick, you're such s dumbie sometimes. Yes, the answer's yes! Like I'd say no!" and she kissed him.

As their lips parted he said, "Well, thanks for not making me do the one knee thing. My legs are killing me." I knew I should leave them alone, but I was transfixed. They both looked so happy- I couldn't believe what a difference 24 hours had made.

"Oh, I almost forgot I had something made for you, too." Said Maya and she stuck her hand in the pocket of her robe.

"It's nothing fancy…"

"I'm sure I'll love it."

Maya placed something shiny in his hand. It looked like a dog tag. Phoenix looked at the inscription and laughed.

"I'll wear it always."

Trucy started dancing around the room saying how she had to call Pearl to tell her the good news and I started to head to my desk to get some work done when I heard-

"HOLD IT!" Both Trucy and I froze in place. I wasn't sure which one of us was in trouble. "Young lady is that make-up?" Trucy had forgotten to wash her face this morning and still had mountains of make-up on.

"I'm sorry Nick, It's my fault. I took the girls out dancing last night so we got a little dolled up."

"Oh, I guess it's ok as long as you were there. Trucy, go clean it off and will you please help Apollo with all that filing today?" Trucy shot me the grin of a criminal who had just gotten off light and danced into the bathroom.

Later in the day, Maya and Trucy went out to go get bridal magazines and Phoenix and I were alone in the office.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on my girls last night."

"No problem."

"You're a good guy, Apollo." I wished that meant he would include me in more of the businesses goings-on, but I realized that Phoenix did things in his own way and in his own time. "Which is why I was wondering if you'd be the best man…"

I was surprised and, actually, really honored. "Sure," I said trying to act nonchalant. "But I feel bad. I'm the one that discovered that marriage license Maya found. I was so busy hiding it from Trucy I must have left it somewhere where Maya found it. Sorry."

"Don't be. We're really happy, but could you do me a big favor? If Maya asks if you think themed weddings are cool say no." He sighed. "I can't afford a whole samurai outfit."

A few days later, Maya did in fact hover over my desk babbling about the wedding. She seemed to be under the mistaken impression that as Best Man I wanted to stay informed about the day-to-day developments in the plans and, while, I was really happy for her and Phoenix I couldn't care less about any of the rest of it. Tell me where to be and when and that's all I need to know. Women always make way too big a deal out of weddings. Isn't that what those drive-thru chapels are for?

Maya held out her hand and gazed at her ring, "Isn't it beautiful, Polly?" I had to admit in this case, Mr. Wright had shown good taste. The ring was silver with an inset pearl that matched the ones Maya always wore. "It reminds me of the moon on a clear summer night. We have to go pick a ring out for him, but I'm not nearly as good at this stuff as Nick is." I found that hard to believe. The thought of Mr. Wright in his god-awful beanie in an expensive jewelry store cracked me up, but Maya didn't seem to notice my smirk and continued.

"Did he tell you he wants us to write our own vows? I think he's just hoping I'll mess up somehow so he can win us a bunch of money from Funniest Videos. I have no idea what to say… maybe I can use quotes from the Steel Samurai…"

"_My blade will teach you much today!"_

"_Today I honor those I love with my blood sacrifice."_

"_Vengeance for thy sins!"_

"Ugh! None of those are any good are they?"

I couldn't believe Maya was coming to me for help with this. Did I have a sign on me, "Nice guy feel free to torture?"

'Well, maybe you could just say whatever you printed on that dog tag you gave him. I can tell he really loves it."

"It's not really appropriate…"

She had piqued my interest. I knew I might regret it, but I went ahead, 'Maya, what _does_ it say?'

"It has my phone number printed on it and it says, "If lost please return to Maya Fey."

I laughed. Somehow that seemed very appropriate to me.


End file.
